Rocky (1976)

Rocky
Directed by John G. Avildsen
Written by Sylvester Stallone
1976/US
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Apollo’s Trainer: He doesn’t know it’s a damn show! He thinks it’s a damn fight!

Americans have always loved a good rags-to-riches story.  Sylvester Stallone came up with a perfect one to celebrate the country’s 200th birthday.

Rocky Balboa (Stallone) is a small-time boxer on the Philadelphia scene.  He wins a few and he loses a few.  His day job is as a collection agent for a loan shark. He is scary enough physically to coerce payment but at heart he is a softie.  He has a crush on mousey pet store salesgirl Adrian (Thalia Shire).  He tries to chat her up but she is too shy to respond.  Rocky is also friends with her loser brother Paulie (Burt Young).  His trainer Mickey (Burgess Meredith) throws the clothes from his locker at the gym out into the street to give the locker to a better prospect.

Concurrently, heavyweight champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) is determined to have a championship bout in Philadelphia on July 4, 1976 as a kind of bicentennial celebration. His intended opponent is injured and his management is unable to find a worthy opponent for that date.  Undeterred, Apollo flips through some photos and decides that Rocky “The Italian Stallion” would make an appealing underdog for the fight.  Apollo is basically Mr. Show Business and figures he will not even have to go into training.

Rocky, on the other hand, takes the matter deadly seriously.  Mickey is suddenly anxious to train him once again.  We watch as Rocky trains and visibly becomes more and more fit.  He also wins the heart of Adrian.  Paulie, feeling threatened with the loss of his live-in housekeeper, thinks this is his opportunity to cash in.  He provides access to the carcasses in the meat packing establishment he works at for use as punching bags and brings in the press.

The climactic fight is thrilling and unforgettable.  Well, actually I did forget the result, so I won’t spoil it here.  When I left the theater on original release, I felt pumped up with victory.

Rocky is a simple story that has been told umpteen times throughout film history.  Between the writing, directing, and acting, it works and it works perfectly.  And that music! Highly recommended.

Rocky won Academy Awards in the categories of Best Picture; Best Director; and Best Film Editing.  It was nominated in the categories of Best Actor; Best Actress; Best Supporting Actor (Meredith); Best Supporting Actor (Young); Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (Stallone); Best Sound; and Best Music, Original Song (“Gonna Fly Now”).

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